EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/3/2024 8:44 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “Intro
to 1 John 1:7, 9; 2:1a”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1 John 1:7, 9; 2:1a”
Message of the verses: “But if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin…If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness…My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.”
Let us begin this introduction by talking about the
glorious promise of the gospel. It is
the free and gracious forgiveness of sin given to everyone who truly repents
and believes in the person and work of the Son of God. I suppose there is a question that could come
up and that would be that if you do this whether or not you are sincere about
it. The truth is that if you are sincere
about this most important decision that you will ever make that the Lord Jesus
Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit will make it known to you and the
reason is that your life will change. I
have mentioned in many of my Spiritual Diaries that before the Lord saved me
that I could not say very many sentences without a swear word in it, (the worst
kind of swear words). MacArthur writes “That
divine pardon is so comprehensive that God removes all believing sinners’
defilement, guilt, and punishment and replaces those things with righteousness,
sanctification, and heavenly reward.
Moreover, God’s forgiveness is eternal and unchangeable (cf. John 5:24;
Heb. 10:17-18). The apostle Paul
summarized that all surpassing blessing in his epistle t the Romans:
“Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these thing? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all thing? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God,who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?...But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:1, 28-35; cf. Ps. 103:12; Rom. 5:20-21; Gal. 3:13-14; Eph. 1:7; see also Ps. 32:1-2; Rom. 4:6-8).”
I think it best to quote one more paragraph in this SD
from MacArthur’s commentary because of the great truth that is in it. “The fact that forgiveness is complete and
irrevocable, however, has led some to wrongly conclude that those who have
received salvation need never again confess their sins before God and request
forgiveness. The proponents of this view
contend that, in order for Christians to accept genuinely their full pardon and
fully enjoy their liberty in Christ, they must ignore sin and focus solely on
God’s grace. But historically, such
teaching has consistently led to the error of antinomianism—a practical
disregard for the law of God and a callous lack of concern for violating
it. If such people are truly saved, they
are indifferent toward the disciplines that produce holiness in their
lives. The effects of such faulty
thinking are disastrous. (For further
discussion of this issue, see John MacArthur, The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness [Wheaton, ILL.; Crossway, 1998],
chapter 3).”
9/3/2024 9:11 PM
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